You are at a party and want to watch your weight and health. However when the appetisers are served you notice nothing looks healthy. The next thing you know, you go ahead and eat those decorative little morsels and blow your eating plan. Stop!
You just passed up one of the healthiest foods you could eat. Those little delicious nuts in that bowl across the room are chock full of nutrition. They will improve your cardiovascular health; hold cancer prevention properties and help you lose weight. It's hard to believe but it's true!
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For 24-year-old Natasha (name changed), going to parties and eating her favourite food was no more worrisome. The idea that something from nuts may actually help weight control seems a little counter-intuitive at first; bearing in mind the reputation nuts have for being both fatty and fattening. Nuts are a nutrient-packed, healthy ‘primal' food, and something that experience shows that satisfy the appetite and prevent overeating at meal time. High in proteins, unsaturated fats may aid in weight loss and other disease-fighting properties.
What's do nuts have that is heart healthy? Nuts are an intensely fatty food, with about 80 per cent of the calories they offer coming from fat. But bear in mind that the types of oils found in nuts such as almonds, cashews, walnuts is predominantly the healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated type.
Researchers found that people who eat nuts regularly have lower risk of heart disease. In 1998, a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who ate nuts less than four times a week were 40 per cent less likely to die of heart disease. Further, potential heart health benefits of nuts were also found among men. In 2002, the Physician's Health Study found that men who consumed nuts two or more times per week had reduced risk of sudden cardiac death.
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Nuts are calorically dense
Fifteen cashews, for instance, deliver 180 kcal! On top of that, it is very tough not to overeat these tasty snacks. Ideally, you should use nuts as a substitute for saturated fats, such as those found in meats, eggs and dairy products. Nuts should be consumed in moderation. Nuts served over salads or pastas will add crunch and flavour. There are many ways to consume nuts and save calories, all benefiting from them without the weight gain.
Weight loss is not the only benefit
Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. This means that they also fight heart disease and possibly arthritis. Vitamin E is found in significant amounts in most nuts. Vitamin E helps lower LDL cholesterol, which is also beneficial to your heart. Also seeds are a fantastic source of folic acid. Despite this, many are still wary of eating nuts on account of their highly calorific nature and reputation for widening the waistline.
Eating nuts doesn't increase weight
It seems too good to be true. You can eat something delicious that is extremely high in fat and yet not gain weight... and may even lose weight? How does that work? Nuts are not usually included in low-fat diets, but studies show that many people find it very difficult to follow a low-fat diet consistently. Allowing a moderate level of fat (as much as 35 per cent) in your diet and getting much of it through nuts may actually increase your chances of losing weight and also give you some heart-health benefits.
Instead of eating unhealthy saturated fats, try substituting a handful of nuts. The best approach is to reap the health benefits of eating nuts but not add excessive calories to your daily intake. So instead of simply adding nuts to your diet, eat them in replacement of foods that are high in saturated fats and limit your intake of these tasty treats Next time you feel like indulging, go for whole, raw, unsalted nuts, and don't feel guilty about it
Heart-healthy
Unsaturated fats: It's not entirely clear why, but it's thought that the “good” fats in nuts — both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — lower bad cholesterol levels.
Omega-3 fatty acids: Many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a healthy form of fatty acids that seem to help your heart by, among other things, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found in many kinds of fish, but nuts are one of the best plant-based sources of omega-3 fatty acids
Fibre: All nuts contain fibre, which helps lower your cholesterol. Fibre also makes you feel full, so you eat less. Fibre is also thought to play a role in preventing diabetes.
Vitamin E: Vitamin E may help stop the development of plaques in your arteries, which can narrow them. Plaque development in your arteries can lead to chest pain, coronary artery disease or a heart attack.
Plant sterols: Some nuts contain plant sterols, a substance that can help lower your cholesterol. Plant sterols are often added to products like orange juice for additional health benefits, but sterols occur naturally in nuts.
Nuts make you feel full fast. They induce a feeling of being satiated and satisfy your appetite.
The satiety feeling of nuts consumption leads to less food ingestion in subsequent meals.
Nutrients contained in nuts are incompletely digested and absorbed—particularly whole nuts—so many of their potential calories just pass through your body as waste.